Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc speaks at the congress’ opening ceremony. — VNA/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — The ninth National Congress of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) officially opened in Hà Nội yesterday, bringing together 1,300 delegates representing people from all walks of life, representatives of armed forces and overseas Vietnamese.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam and President Nguyễn Phú Trọng sent a basket of flowers to congratulate the congress. 
The congress saw the attendance of Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân, permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Trần Quốc Vượng as well as other leaders and former leaders of the Party and State and many other senior officials. 
In his opening remarks, President of the 8th-tenure VFF Central Committee Trần Thanh Mẫn said the congress will assess the great national unity bloc situation and people from all strata, review the implementation of the VFF’s five action programmes during the 2014-2019 tenure, and set forth action programmes for the next term. 
It will also approve the amended and supplemented statutes of the VFF and conduct consultations to assign the Central Committee, the Presidium and the Standing Board of the VFF for the 2019-2024 tenure, the official said.  
He pointed out difficulties and limitations in socio-economic development, along with other issues like climate change, natural disasters and diseases, and plots of hostile forces to undermine the Party and State and divide the great national unity bloc. 
In that context, the VFF needs to identify key tasks, utilise potential and resources, seek more international support, create social consensus, build the pure and strong Party, State and political system, consolidate and promote the great national unity bloc, and improve the material and spiritual life of people of all social strata, thus developing the country rapidly and sustainably, and firmly defending the nation, Mẫn stressed. 
Hầu A Lềnh, Vice President and Secretary General of the VFF Central Committee, presented a brief report of the 8th-tenure VFF Central Committee. 
He said the VFF has worked hard to improve the efficiency of the communications work with various campaigns and patriotic movements, protect legal and legitimate rights of people, and join hands in building the Party and administration. 
At the same time, the VFF has bettered people-to-people exchanges, enhanced international friendship and cooperation, and perfected its mechanisms and improved its operations, thus meeting requirements and tasks in the new period. 
During the tenure, fatherland fronts at all levels collected over VNĐ19.7 trillion ($847.1 million) in support of social welfare programmes, raised a fund worth more than VNĐ4.67 trillion ($201.3 million) for the poor, built and upgraded over 153,000 houses for needy households, and thousands of social welfare works. 
In the next five years, the VFF will focus on consolidating and enhancing the great national unity bloc; fulfilling the targets of socio-economic and cultural development, and ensuring national defence and security; protecting legal and legitimate rights of people; fighting corruption and wastefulness; building the pure and strong Party and administration; intensifying international solidarity; expanding people-to-people exchanges; and renewing its operation methods, he said
Addressing the congress, PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc lauded significant contributions of the VFF, socio-political organisations and people to national achievements. 
In the past tenure, the VFF has made efforts in renewing its organisation and operation, he said, hailing the front’s role in building the great national unity bloc, taking care of and protecting legal and legitimate rights of people, boosting socio-economic development, and building the Party, State and the political system. 
The front has made practical and effective contributions to social supervision and feedback, social welfare, poverty reduction and new-style rural area building, the government leader noted. 
PM Phúc said the VFF should better the communications work, uphold its core role in consultations, and continue to coordinate with all-level administration and its member organisations to implement patriotic movements and campaigns. 
He urged the front to make greater efforts in collecting public opinions and reporting them to Party and State agencies and localities, while coordinating with authorities in handling issues of public concern, with attention paid to ethnic minority-inhabited, remote, border and religious regions, and the areas which used to be revolutionary bases. 
The VFF should continue to encourage the public to engage in building the Party and administration as well as in the fight against corruption and wastefulness, judicial reform, and improving the business environment. 
The Party and State want to receive more proposals through the VFF in order to perfect policies, guidelines and leadership methods, the PM noted. — VNS